RailCorp split in two, jobs slashed
It’s a brand so broken and so unpopular that it's been dumped.
Almost 700 jobs are being slashed from RailCorp under a major restructure to help improve the network.
The State Government says it wants to cut red tape and fix ongoing problems with maintenance, but the union fears it will also hurt commuters.
Today the government began its Railcorp rebadged with 690 job cuts... 450 from the maintenance unit and another 240 in administration.
But the minister was forced to admit she doesn't know how much the changes will save or even cost.
“If the savings were going into frontline services then you could have a discussion, there's no discussion about this," Shadow Transport Minister Penny Sharpe said.
Last night Seven News revealed CityRail was among the world's least efficient services, with 500 middle managers already sent packing, along with 140 frontline staff.
In all, the government says the workforce will be slashed from 15,000 to around 12,000.
Mark Lennon from Unions New South Wales says the minister has sought to demonise the RailCorp workforce.
“Quite clearly operating and expanding network is increasingly difficult with less people to do it,” Alex Claassens from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union said.
But the biggest cut is RailCorp itself; from next July it will be split into two organizations, Sydney Trains for the city, and New South Wales Trains for country areas.
Despite the job losses, the minister says all stations will still have managers, but they may be managing fewer people.
"Some stations there will potentially be one extra staff person, at some stations there could potentially be one less staff person," Gladys Berejiklian said.
